Youth Union at the HCMC Zoo, Team building of Lao Dong va Cong Doen Students

Off to observe student “Team building Exercises” and tour the HCMC Zoological Garden and Park.

Yesterday, Sunday in HCMC and Saturday in the US, Leanna and I had a chance to observe and take a little part in a “team building” exercise of Youth Union (FYI -- the Youth Union is a national political association of young adults) members of Lao Dong and Cong Doen students, students from the department where we are guest lecturing in this semester.  We weren't quite sure what the Youth Union team building would be like although our colleague and translator Vinh, also a lecturer for the University, told us that it would be a many hours long activity that is designed to bring the students together and develop a loyalty to each other and the department and University.  The Youth Union student activity took place at the Ho Chi Minh City Zoological Park, the Zoo and inlcuded students working as teams competing to find hidden items or information – we remarked that it sounded like a treasure hunt to us...it was and wasn't.
Anyway, Sunday 8am we met Vinh at the front gates of the University with two big bags of fresh fruit hanging from her motorbike.  She stopped, hefted the bags over to us, told us to wait and then zoomed off to park her motor bike in the underground faculty parking.  She was back quickly, we hailed a cab and took off for the Zoo.  I estimate it was about 7 or 8 kilometers to the Park where we bought our zoo visit tickets – 3 tickets cost 36 dong or a total of $1.60 for three adults (two old farts plus 1 regular).

 The Zoo was full of students, families with lots of little kids, teenagers, young lovers,

Leanna and Vinh with "decorated" students.

 grand parents, and parents pouring into the park on buses, taxis, motorbikes and walking.  Everyone was out to have a day at your all purpose zoo and park.  It wasn't just taking in the animals and birds, crocodiles and great apes, rhinoceroses and giraffes but lots of small lakes, a bandshell (with free entertainment for the kids that included learning to play traditional instruments and a magic show), lots of shade and grass where families set up picnics and teenagers and young adults vogued for their cameras.  The Park also included play stations for children learning to paint, fish toys, from shallow pools and carnival rides. There were happenings going on in all directions a cacophony of sound, light, the noises of happy and excited children and action.
So, in the midst of all this and using every inch of the zoo park the Youth Union Organizing Team of some 12 students had planned out a full day's activities that they refer to as “team building”.  With ten teams of ten students each they worked together to complete tasks, play games, score points (or lose points) get to know each other better and have FUN.  Each team selected a color in advance and a slogan, planned their own food, drink and snacks for the day, elected a team leader and showed up wearing their colors.  And in other ways visibly showing their team identity from a glance we could see that each team included both new and senior students and both men and women.  The older students had the responsibility to break in the newcomers to being team members.  

The 12 organizers let the first two rules be know very straight forward to start.  Rule 1 – Organizers are always right. Rule 2 – If you consider questioning the organizer refer to Rule 1. And that was the rule book except for rules made up on the fly by organizers.  The teams tore off through the zoo in quest of the “treasurers” that would earn them points.  The complication was that the organizers were the ones who decided whether points were earned or not! 

We watched for a while and got some pictures with the students, but then took off on our own and toured the Zoo.  Now I am not a big zoo pusher – I always wonder if the caged bird sings but I was happily surprised.  The animals were in large spaces, well cared for and loved by the zoo goers.  Yes, the animals were still in placements or settings and not running wild but they weren't eating the spectators either.  We were amazed to see a white tiger with very light gray stripes lounging in its enclosure.  It was the biggest cat I have ever seen – an immense fellow bigger than any lion I have seen.  The crocodiles were pretty lazy and no wonder the temperature was probably at least 35c or about 95 degrees and 80% humidity.  The signage was in Vietnamese except for the species and common name, that was in Vietnamese, English and Latin for the scientific names.  It was nice that the year of known discovery of different species was listed.  At 11:30 we felt it was time to go to the History Museum but alas it was closed for lunch hour!  Next trip.  We snared a taxi and went out for lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant that features traditional food from Central coastal provinces of Vietnam.  We ate special dishes.  One was yet another incredible pancake that you wrapped in green vegetables and then dipped in a mixture of three special sauces.  The second dish was a “fish” soup that had the best broth and unique noodle with delicious fish; mackerel and another fish prepared as a type of sausage.  Our lunch was scrumptious and filling.  After lunch we headed back to the University by taxi though we had the cab drop us off at our local supermarket where we bought food, bakery, books and a pair of sandals for Leanna to go with her new silk ao dai in turquoise and white (picture soon).  The ao dai is a gift from the President of the University that was made to order for Leanna by a seamstress that came to the University to get measurements and then craft the outfit.
Later in the week we got a chance to attend a Youth Union meeting here on campus and really enjoyed the mix of political history (great SHORT documentaries), culture -- KAROKE and practical skill building.  The students' plan all the content and conduct the meetings completely.  Vinh is the faculty sponsor, but seems to just review generally what is planned -- encouraging students to keep themselves motivated as they grow and hae fun.  Very impressive!

Flying Vietnam Airlines to Hanoi, Hanoi on the Quick

Hanoi recently (2010) celebrated its one thousand year anniversary as a City so going to see Hanoi made us feel very young indeed. Of course there have been organized “civilizations” for many thousands of years before the birth of Hanoi as a city. Like on our own continent these were tribal peoples or clans that had their own identity and culture reflecting their relationship to the world around them and many of those cultures still function here and are usually recognized by the Vietnamese government.

At the VGCL in Hanoi

Presenting at the VTU University

Our Hanoi trip lasted a too brief 5 days – but were they ever FULL! We were able to meet with faculty from both the Vietnam Trade Union University (which we learned was visited 3 different times by Ho Chi Minh) founded by the VGCL and the University of Labor and Social Affairs (which has an official relationship with MOLISA, the government ministry responsible for labor and social affairs). Later in the week we gave presentations – kind of like demonstrations – of how we are using popular education/active learning to teach students about conflict resolution and collective bargaining. The VTU presentation was to faculty and students who were labor leaders from Laos and Cambodia. USLA's presentation was a different experience with more than 150 students, faculty and a link to 2 other campuses! We learned a lot and were really made to feel welcome by both faculty and students. All three trade union universities (TDT included!) are in the process of exchanging curricula and training materials about conflict resolution and collective bargaining, so our modest collection of materials will get included.

Discussion at ULSA

When we weren't busy preparing our presentations (and getting GREAT support from translators!), we got to visit the VGCL headquarters and meet with representatives from the international section and policy/legal sections. The VGCL discussion was really inspiring – one of the union brothers (and his daughter) later took us to the War Museum and talked with us over delicious coffee next to the Hanoi Opera House. We also met with a representative of the VCCI – the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce – which seems to play a different role here in Vietnam from what we experience in USA. We also got to meet with two Australian labor activists who are doing amazing work with VGCL – we hope to connect further with them and their work. They were two impressive women! We spent a moving evening with a leader of the Vietnamese Agent Orange Victims Association VAVA who not only shared his own story of involvement but also a history of VAVA. The reach and depth of this organization throughout Vietnam is incredible as is their ongoing battle for justice for the now fourth generation of children and families living with the poison of such toxics.

That's Orchids for a special Women's Day

A great statue honoring women!

A special note is that Oct. 20 is Vietnam Woman's Day (declared by the Party to celebrate the founding of the Vietnam Women's Union in 1930), so Friday afternoon at one of the presentations Leanna was presented with a beautiful orchid bouquet – wow! We also celebrated Woman's Day at the Hanoi Women's Museum which was incredible – got to share that experience with Julie Brockman of Michigan State University who is here teaching and doing research as a Fulbright Scholar.

Perhaps the most moving Hanoi experience was our visit to the Ho Chi Minh Museum – which brought Leanna and Hollis to tears several times. The museum is an amazing collection of historical artifacts about his life and the Vietnamese revolution but also art which so effectively depicts and illustrates the culture, world history, people, economic and technological events that shaped Uncle Ho's life and thinking. While there were plenty of tourists, the museum was full of Vietnamese, especially families with children. We walked around the exterior of the mausoleum where there is a big open park. One of the Australian women had described to us how when she observed the flag ceremony at night at the mausoleum she thinks of Vietnam putting Uncle Ho to bed. One of the Vietnamese women we got to know in Hanoi had another comment about the open space/park at the mausoleum – when she sees all the children and families playing and relaxing there she imagines that Uncle Ho enjoys hearing the laughter and happiness of today's Vietnamese children. Now you know why Leanna gets teary-eyed.

Having a good time in Hanoi

No way we can talk about Hanoi without mentioning FOOD. Hollis found some of the best pho to-date. We ate these beautiful, small, translucent pancakes from Hue and West Lake escargot among other delicious treats. All our new Hanoi friends were just wonderful making sure we appreciated some of what makes the food of “the north” different from HCMC.

With all the incredible work we learned about and gracious, committed people we met during just 5 short days, one thing we definitely learned is our trip to Hanoi was way too short of a visit. We are so grateful to everyone who shared their Hanoi with us – and we sure as hell hope to be able to spend more time in Hanoi before returning to USA.

Unfortunately Hollis' photos somehow disappeared, so one of our Hanoi friends shared some his great photos – thanks to Tuyen!

General Vo Nguyen Giap Memorialized and a time for thought and consideration of today and yesterday

As I sit here in Ho Chi Minh City as a volunteer worker in a land that is new to me but where I feel very at home,  I am moved to consider the meaning of the passing of a world recognized General and a courageous leader of the people of Vietnam.  Of course I am writing of General Vo Nguyen Giap who died this past week at the age of 102 years.  

Reading stories in the world press the past few days I read of the same old divisions that seemed so stark back when I was in my early 20s.  The government of the USA was pressing for war and I was of draft age back then.  I had no thought of serving after I  asked myself, "Why would I want to kill Vietnamese, they have done nothing to me nor my neighborhood?" And I pointed out to friends and colleagues, "Vietnam is no threat to the US.  They lack an air force and a navy so they can't reach here.  We are being lied to to scare us of "the Red Menace".”    My answer came down to I will not kill Vietnamese, whether from the North or the South.  At the UofA I had been forced against my will to take ROTC and maybe that was good because I had picked up literature on the concepts of people's war as it had been practiced against the French in Vietnam as well as by Mao in China and by other leaders across Africa, Asia and South America including Cuba. (I feel impelled to clarify that ROTC did not supply me with these materials.)  I even considered that when my great, great, great .... grandfather fought the “stinking British” in the War of Independence, he and others used concepts of peoples war (perhaps they learned from the indigenous peoples of North America?). In other words, we in the US shared the tradition of anti-colonialism with the Vietnamese.  Our own shared experiences should have resulted in support for Vietnam instead of invading and attempting to re-colonize it. It is one of the paradoxes of history that false patriotism and propaganda can deceive people like us in the USA to follow leaders who have no concern for the best interests of our country.  Instead these “leaders” wage warfare to steal oil fields, rubber plantations and the like from countries weakened by such warfare --- killing other peoples and our own young in the process.

In fact General Vo Nguyen Giap like his comrade in arms and politics Ho Chi Minh was an internationalist, a person who believes that we are all sisters and brothers in the world.  Internationalists believe though we live in separately defined nations that our needs and desires are much the same and that through the organization of the working class and peasants who produce the wealth on an international basis we can achieve a world of  peace and plenty with harmonious relations unrestricted by the jealousy, greed and other fetters of capitalism that come between people and nations and lead to destruction, hatred, and war.  I am proudly an internationalist.  On the other hand, capitalism is based on the brute dominance of the small class of the rich and super rich who always work to divide and conquer and winner take all whether in the purely personal or in international relations.

This is why so many of us continue to organize and mobilize around many issues so that we as a people in the US rise up and say no more!  We will not invade other countries for resources, for intimidation, or in an effort to force our ways upon others.  The Constitution says it is a duty of government to defend the nation.  All it takes is a much smaller defensive force to easily do just that without the invasion of other countries, without nuclear missile threats, without nuclear bombs, without chemical and biological weapons, without drones or other weapons of genocide.  We have the capacity to be an independent nation, a very resourceful nation taking care of the needs of our people and living in equality, freedom and happiness if we will just re-distribute the wealth away from the 1% who take advantage of us.  Then the rich cannot use our government for their corporate interests of profit through the inhumane (and usually illegal) invasion of other countries.  It is up to us, the people of the United States of (North) America to do this.  That is what I believe and that is what I put my life to achieving.  For all my friends for all these years, not one step back -- the future is ours.  We must seize the time. For ourselves, for our children, our grandchildren and theirs.  Ho Chi Min, General Giap, Live Like them.  Dare to Struggle.  Dare to Win.

A fine day with Union leaders from Binh Thuan who have just completed a Labor Studies regimen.

An important community education program of TDTU is the training of local, provincial, and upper union leadership in the theory and practice of Labor Relations, Collective Bargaining, Conflict Resolution and other key skills necessary to the function and strengthening of workers organizations in Vietnam. On 10-4-2013 our Vietnam experience took a honored turn with an invitation to join a large group of recent union graduates of TDT’s training from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City.

 Workers were from local, industrial-park based, and the provincial unions as well as an organizer for the VGCL who works for the unions in the area. The conduct of training in far flung areas – in time if not in distance – requires the professors and lecturers who do the training to travel by motor bike to the union locations located across southern Vietnam from the Mekong Delta to the Central Highlands and east along the Coast.  The courses last several months and are conducted at the best possible times and locations convenient for the worker students: the students are from the working class and work their regular jobs and have families and all that.  Three of our good friends and advisers for our teaching in VN are central instructors in these training program.  One of the TDT Professors was the former Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Labor Council and the others have been instructing Labor Relations for several years (one of whom has a long career in Human Resources before becoming a Professor in labor studies).  They each are highly capable leaders who have a mountain of experience that they contribute to their teaching.

The focus for the visit of these union members was two fold.  First there was a visit to the POUYUEN VIETNAM COMPANY LIMITED, a FDI wholly owned by its foreign investors the POU CHEN GROUP of Taiwan, in the industrial park to the west and north of downtown Ho Chi Minh City followed by a tour and dinner at the TDT University campus for the graduates.  The Union at the plant represents 80,000 workers and the plant is enormous to say the least.  It was explained that the company has a fleet of 550 buses and provides transport to and from work for  their employees.  When our caravan of TDT Labor Relations students and the bus of union leaders from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City arrived at the factory and Union Offices, we were met by the President and Vice Presidents of the Local Union of the workers of the POUYUEN plant and a worker delegation.  As we were being met and greeted by the plant employees, we were also meeting the union graduates who were our hosts and guests at the same time.  Within a few minutes we all made our way upstairs to a beautiful union room where the meeting took place.  The total delegation numbered about 50: 35 unionists from Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City, 5 staff members from the Labor Relations and Trade Union Department, and 8 students from the University.  What a day of labor and workplace lessons!

In the meeting room the President of the Local began the meeting welcoming us all again and then launched into answering the questions that had been submitted beginning with the questions from the guest unionists from Binh Thuan Province, then the questions from our TDT students delegation and lastly the questions from the guest lecturers.  During the QandA the union leader invited people to come forward and sing a song for the meeting.  The performances were very good and added a “Maslow moment” to the gathering as the union members were able to receive the applause of their sisters and brothers.  Toward the end of the meeting the Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City delegation presented a gift to the POUYUEN Local Union.  Leanna and I presented the local union President with a bag of UE, Labor United Against the War and Labor United for Universal Health Care union buttons from the USA to be distributed to the officers of the local and a few members.  The meeting ended with picture taking.

Then it was time to have lunch at an excellent Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood.  Two women from the CSR (plant management) department joined us for lunch and conversation.  Besides eating a lot of good food we had fun doing a lot of traditional toasts with our beverages: mo, hai,  ba , YO and everyone drinks.  At first we performed our toasts at our table and then after a while we got up and moved around the room toasting the new graduates at every table.  Once we had finished lunch it was time to return to the University for the next part of the days activities.

At the University we met the delegation of labor studies graduates when they arrived on their bus, boarded their bus with them for a driving tour of the campus.  When we arrived at a spot over near our dorm room we invited everyone to come by and receive Union buttons from us as gifts from sisters and brothers in the USA.  Then we continued the tour on foot of the campus displaying the qualities of the different areas and the administration building, libraries and meeting rooms in particular.  On the 6th floor of the admin building we were invited to visit the President’s Room, named for Ton Duc Thang, the former President of Vietnam and the namesake of the University.  It was a picture opportunity and the VP of the University posed with several people who wanted to have a memoir of this wonderful day.  A special enthusiasm was generated when the workers spoke about the meaning of this university to them: A VGCL sponsored University supported by the working class and a place where they could hope their children would attend.

Two floors down we went to a beautiful conference room where we held a meeting of honor for the graduates with several speeches, three songs by different performers -- just a great time.  

Finally we all enjoyed  a catered dinner in one of the special large meeting rooms of the new Sports Arena facility.  One of the canteens catered the event with a delicious fish and seafood hot pot as the main course surrounded by lots of other goodies.  It was a very fine to sit here and have dinner with these new union friends and feel the warmth of the event.  Sometime after 8pm everyone said good bye, the workers got on their bus to go to their hotel and we retired to our room.  Picture with labor leaders from the Binh Thuan Province and Phan Thiet City.

Days in Dalat: Dancing, Prancing, Elephant Riding and General Good Times.

      Last week was a memorable experience as we traveled to Da Lat a Vietnamese City in the Central Highlands northeast of HCMC. We left HCMC by bus at 11pm on Thursday night. [The highlands are at about 12 degrees north and HCMC is about 10 degrees north. A degree is equal to about 68 miles so go figure. Dalat is also about 2 degrees east of HCMH at 108 degrees east. That should help you calculate where we were.] Dalat is at about 1550 meters in altitude, or close to a mile high. The highest mountain in the province, Mt Liangbian, located very close to the city, is 2100 meters in altitude over 6500 foot. In other words these are not the Sierras or the Himalayas but they are some beautiful, rugged mountains forested with the gamut from pine trees to banana trees and all sorts of jungle plants. Every where you look is shades of green and the colors of the rainbow because of the multitudes of flowers and flowering plants.


Dalat is known for its floral gardens and it exports beautiful flowers as well as vegetables, milk, and other agricultural and forest products: lumber and wood products such as carved furniture and bamboo. This year Dalat is celebrating its 120^th Anniversary but the civilization of the area is older going back several thousands of years. There are various ethnic groups in the area with their unique farming techniques, music, arts, dance and languages. One of our thrills was going to a cultural presentation by a singing and dance troupe that performed Saturday night at the resort where we had our rooms. The group did not just sing and dance though that would have been enough but spoke to us about their history and their love of their Vietnam home. But more about that later.

     We arrived in Dalat on Friday morning of September 29^th at 5:30am and a van from the bus company transported us to our resort where we stowed our luggage and took a nap until about 9am when it was time to "get up and go."  We had a delicious breakfast at the dining room of the resort --- Soup for me and bun for the others. Then we toured the grounds of the resort which includes two performance pavilions, various museums highlighting the culture of the area from weaving to wine making, farming, flower production (we bought an exquisite orchid as a gift for our Dean), and lots of statues to do with the astrological signs.
Year of the Dragon catcher.

Here is a beautiful picture of two local ladies, Vinh and Leanna.  The women asked to have a picture with Leanna because they were all grandmothers!

     When we got to the big pavilion we found that the troupe was practicing their songs and performance materials so we watched and talked with them. They invited us to take a few licks on their instruments and we did. 

When the rain increased we went back to our rooms for a rest before heading for downtown Dalat which was about 6K away. As it turned out after we got up about 2pm we walked downtown passing all sorts of small businesses, a garment factory where we noticed the canteen run by the union for the workers, both new and old houses some with an art deco architecture from the last part of the French colonial period. As we approached Dalat University we came upon a family running their business on the street – they were preparing deep fried bananas, corn and sweet potatoes so we sat down and got a big platter of all three and enjoyed out lunch – delicious! After we finished our sidewalk lunch we continued our walk toward downtown passing Dalat University, some road construction, dormitories and a fancy golf course.


     Then we proceeded down a long hill and arrived at a large flower garden and across the street was a lovely little lake. As it turned out, the large flower garden was closed for the day, boo hoo. So we changed destinations and decided to head for the central market and do some shopping. To reach it we had to travel alongside the lake and to do that we rented a horse drawn quite fancy carriage that carried us to the south end of the Lake. The carriages are often rented by lovers or newly weds who come to Dalat and visit the Valley of Love. At the south end of the lake we had to start our walk again, another half mile or so to the Dalat Market where we enjoyed shopping and stopped and had atiso tea and coffee at a little coffee bar featuring a locally grown highland coffee. FYI Atiso tea is tea from dried artichoke and is reportedly a good natural medicine for your GI track, blood pressure, cholesterol, gall and other things. Then it was dark out and time to head home to our rooms to get some sleep.  



     Saturday morning we were up early and took breakfast a little after 7am again at the dining room of the resort looking out over a beautiful farming and wooded valley. On the other side of the valley low clouds covered the hills swirling about the peaks. A very peaceful way to enjoy a breakfast soup. And by a little after 8am we were picked up by our tour bus for our day of exploring several sites around Delat. Thankfully, it was not raining and we got through most of the day without getting rained on although in the later afternoon the daily rain came along for a while. 

 The first stop on the tour was the Summer Palace of the last King of Vietnam, King Bao Dai who was the monarch in the 30s and 40s until the end of WW2 ended French colonial rule. The King soon took his family to France where he lived for many years. The palace was a fine specimen of French colonial architect built in the 30s with many art deco aspects. The King's first wife lived in this Summer Palace with her children and the other 7 wives had their own palaces --- he did not mix and match with his wives and children.

     After finishing at the Palace our tour guide and driver took us to a Buddhist Meditation Center designed by the same architect who designed the Unification Palace, the fortress built with US money for the right wing dictators installed after the partition of the nation in 1956 by the perfidy of the US and the Catholic Church and that stands now as a symbol of the liberation of the nation and the reunification after the defeat of the US military. The Meditation Center and gardens are a peaceful place even with hundreds of tourists there at the same time. One room contained a giant jade Buddha that is magnificent. 

 When we finished touring the Meditation Center we walked down to the edge of a lake where we boarded boat #19 to go out to an Island a few kilometers across lake. The lake waters were clean, fish jumped and birds and frogs were in evidence.


      The tour guide had said that on the Island that we were going to we could ride an elephant if we wanted to and like sure, why not ride an elephant? It had to be much like riding a horse or a merry-go -round, right. Well it was and it wasn't. You don't put your foot in a stirrup and swing yourself up on to your ride --- rather you climb a tower, the handler brings his elephant to the side of the tower and you climb into the box and you are ready to go. Now elephants can run quite fast but our handler, Pham, only let our elephant, Roc, walk while we were on board. When elephants walk slowly they rock and roll a lot but when I asked if Rock has fallen down the handler said that elephants don't fall down.



The view from an elephant is different than a horse, too. First you are close to higher limbs on trees and small trees and bushes are below you. Roc occasionally stopped to grab some plants he wanted to eat and the handler would have to tell him to get going. Incidentally, the handler who rode on the elephants neck did not hit or act abusive toward his friend. Whenever a trip would finish Roc got a reward of three stocks of sugar cane --- to get the cane he ran from the tower to the cane storage. When he ran he moved at a very smooth quick pace and as far as I could see the rock and roll pretty much disappeared. Rock carried his cane around in his trunk and with some in his mouth as he chomped away. When he finished one piece then he would deftly move another piece into his jaws and eat while walking along.
I don't believe that Leanna or I ever expected to ride an elephant but there you go. If you get a chance, don't pass it up! We boated back across the lake where we met our van and driver and went off to another temple to view the tallest Buddha in Dalat and the province at 22 meters. After this visit to the temple we had lunch at a cafe downtown by the central market and then visited the National Heritage Railroad Station. Our food included a nice pork and noodle preparation, atiso soup, cafe, and rice. Delicious. The picture above right is of one of the train engines from the period before the US destroyed the railroad with bombing during the American War.  Dalat still does not have rail service.

Then it was off to visit a flower shop at the site of a large flower grower. The flowers for sale were spread over several rooms and included paintings/tapestries made of dry flowers as well as the live flowers for sale. The dry flower art works were said to last for five or ten years but we decided not to try to carry such things in our luggage – we would get home with flower crumbs. When we finished at the flower shop we had one more stop on our tour but we had the guide drop us off at our near by resort since it was raining fairly hard and steady by this time.


It seemed like a wonderful time to catch some sleep and the three of us took a nap. After maybe an hour we were awoken by a booming drum and decided the concert by the dance and song troupe must be on even with the rain. Before 7pm we trooped down to the theatre and since we were early had our choice of seats and sat back for others to arrive and for the show to start.

The program opened after a short speech with two people being called out of the audience to light a bonfire, this is a pantheistic culture and fire is one of the gods, in the middle of the stage. To my astonishment I was called out and I looked around at first to make sure that this was true even after Leanna and Vinh said that I should go out on the stage. After we were standing on the stage for some time with the moderator or production director by the stacked wood that was seasoned with kerosene or some other burning fluid, two women brought out burning torches and shared them with the volunteers. The women held the torches with us and we stepped to the wood pile and lit it up. As the fire burned a dance started around it and people came down out of the audience to join us as we circled the blaze. There were more dances as the evening progressed and in almost every instance the audience was drawn into the performance --- a brand new caring community growing before our eyes and through our feet. Another dance that was wild and enjoyable was a dance of water buffalo. The picture below shows the performance area but was shot in the day time.  Unfortunately the night time pics didn't take well, it was dark and I didn't want to use flash.

Dancing as a buffalo I miscued a few times but the beauty of the dance was that no one called you to task, you just kept going. There were also dances centered around hunting, fishing, and getting water. I had a few swigs of wine from one of the traditional jugs you will notice in the pictures and it was a bit hard to keep up with all that was going on when the wine took effect. The program lasted a couple of hours by which time the audience as well as the troupe were happy, tired, and ready to call it an evening. Next morning we got packed, stored our bags at the resort office and went shopping, again. At 10am we boarded our bus and headed back to HCMC where we arrived at 5:30pm, caught a taxi to the University and collapsed about 9pm to get some sleep and be up at the classroom teaching at 6:50am.
QED

An Amazing Week of Friendship and Caring in Vietnam --- Love the Children

What a Week!
This past week your blogging friends shared three great events: Mid-Autumn Festival with the HCM City residents of Ward 10, District 8;  Graduation Ceremony with the latest TDT Graduates and Welcome New Students Day with all the TDT students.  Each event was memorable in its own way and continued our education and appreciation of the Vietnam people and culture.

Sharing the Mid-Autumn Festival with the children and parents of District 8 and student volunteers from TDT was one of the most remarkable and spirit lifting of our Vietnam expeirences seeing the children have SO MUCH FUN!  Similar events take place all over Vietnam sponsored by all                                       types of organizations and volunteers.  Clown and students.

Above --  The Vice President of the
Peoples Committee for Ward 10

 Below -- the group of students from TDT
that worked so hard to create a wonderland for
the children of District 8., HCM

In preparation for the Festival each year the students of our department at TDT,  Khoa Lao Dong - Cong Doan, (Labor Relations and Trade Union Department) cut and assemble close to 200 traditional red star lanterns using bamboo sticks as the frame with red plastic as the star and a candle holder in the center to light up the star.  In addition goodies are collected to put into gift bags to be handed out to children at the Festival event.  The students also plan and perform skits, songs and games (traditional and not) to entertain the children and families.
 On the night of the September full moon (even though clouds and a little rain kept the moon out-of-sight), the street and sidewalk in front of the People's Committee District 8 Ward 10 offices were transformed into an outdoor theater with amazing lighting, stage and sound systems for the Mid Autumn Festival event.  We arrived just as the main part of the performances were beginning and thought we would blend into the crowd to watch but within moments the Vice President of the Peoples Committee had us escorted to a row of chairs at a table in front of the stage where we were honored guests seated next to the VP who made us very welcome while she took care of her duties (organizing last minute details, giving the welcoming address, etc).  We had not expected to be treated in such a welcome fashion by the elected government official and it was a very humbling moment as well as one of pride in being a guest of the people of Vietnam and the local Peoples Committee.  Every row behind us was filled with giggling and squirming children of all ages (mostly grade school age, of course) surrounded by a standing crowd of smiling parents, grandparents and older sisters and brothers.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated across Vietnam to recognize the nation's  children (what a GREAT IDEA!) with special sharing events arranged for poorer children so that they share in the wealth of the nation.  There are traditional stories, songs and games for the Mid Autumn Festival. The crowd as you will see in the pictures included folks of all ages from babies in mom's or dad's arms to teenagers and parents hanging out with the crowd.  The event was down-home non-professional and very heartfelt -- the audience LOVED IT ALL.  There was lots of humor and music and funny costumes.  The children hung on every scene with plenty of gasps and laughs as students acted-out traditional stories -- the man and beautiful woman of the moon, numerous animals being stalked by wolves, two fairy tale characters who constantly tricked each other.  A beautiful  traditional Angel dance by several women in white ai dai was performed using fans for wings to flutter about the stage and convey their story.   The last act was a  Clown who entertained and engaged children using Simple Simon and other games with his helpers the Man and Woman in the moon.  All contestants received a prize -- books.  Finally for the grand finale, children were called forward to climb up on the stage and receive their gifts of a Red Lantern and a bag of goodies.  Previously the People's Committee had distributed special invitations to the event for the children -- so they were the honored guests.  Impressive way to handle such a detail!  When the first group of children were called to the stage, the People's Committee VP (a woman probably in her 30s?) called Leanna and I up on stage.  When she pointed at us to come up we were surprised and taken a bit aback but we followed her instructions.  At first we were concerned that the students would see us as interrupting their role of distributing the lanterns and gifts to the children, but we were immediately included in the process and felt truly welcomed and honored.
THIS QUICKLY BECAME A MOMENT TO BE TREASURED FOR A LIFETIME --- WORKING THE STAGE WITH THE TDT STUDENTS, THE VP, AND OTHER VOLUNTEERS DELIVERING THE LANTERNS AND GIFT BAGS.  LEA AND I WERE GIVEN THE JOB OF HANDING THE PRESENTS TO THE CHILDREN ONE BY ONE AFTER THEY LINED UP ON STAGE ABOUT 30 OR SO AT A TIME.  When we finished gifting one contingent then they would leave stage while more youngsters climbed the ladder at the front of the stage.  Volunteers and parents made sure that the children safely navigated all stairs with their bags of goodies and their lanterns -- a lot to juggle if you are young!  It was quite a production for so many children to be on stage with all the stage lights and music and crazy adults.  Everyone did get ther lantern and gift bag and lots of loving attention.  We think everyone had fun -- we sure did and were honored to be invited to help share the fun and joy with the children.
[ NOTE]: The Peoples Committee Ward or District is the institution of local communist government and is very close to the people's lives --- the members are elected in neighborhoods and are accountable to the neighborhood.
The second great event took place less than 12 hours later when we attended the Graduation Ceremony for the latest graduating class of TDT - 2,000 students in total.  TDT pays a lot of personal attention to each student, so the ceremony is divided into 2 sessions on 2 different days.  This event was held in the TDT beautiful auditorium with all the pomp and circumstance we are used to at these events: speeches by the President and Department Chairs; special honors presentations for the highest achieving students; and the presentation of diplomas to the graduates with parents' and friends' applause (more respectful than at our USA ceremonies), as the graduates crossed to the center of the stage, received their degree, posed with the TDT President or Department Dean for a picture, and then exited as the next grad stepped forward.


We planned to slip into a balcony seat to observe part of the ceremony knowing we had to leave early to teach a class.  BUT we were spotted and immediately invited to the main floor of the auditorium and seated in the front row with the  Department Deans.  Luckily Hollis had worn black trousers, a white shirt and tie and black shoes rather than his running shoes.  Following protocol Hollis did not shoot pictures until we were leaving so you won't find many photos of graduation unless I can find them elsewhere on facebook or a school website.  The picture with Leanna does illustrate the beautiful front of the auditorium but it does not show the balconies above and behind the main floor -- FULL of the families of the graduates.   We were really glad we got to see two of the Labor Relations students we know recognized for their special academic achievements.
We left the Graduation early to teach our simulation class on Labor Conflict mediation from 9 am to 12 noon back in our 5th floor classroom (that's 6 flights of stairs!).  In virtually each of our classes we practice "social dialog" with simulations covering issue bargaining, collective bargaining for contracts, grievance handling and other conflict resolution techniques.  This past week students studied and then practiced the role of mediators in a labor issue.  Leanna and I played the parts of Union and Employer while the students developed specific plans for talking with us to learn the facts, and process tactics to get us talking with the understanding that mediation is voluntary and non binding -- the Mediator is neutral and does not devise  solutions or make the final decision as in arbitration.  The class was a sparkling success but more about that in another blog.  We do have some pictures to share at some point.
The 3rd great event in three days started at 7 am on Saturday morning -- Welcome New Students Day.  The first event of the day was a 7:30 am a parade of the 13 departments and many student clubs/organizations into the football stadium.  Each group arranged or dressed themselves differently to give character to their group.  Our group of Lao Dong - Cong Doan looked great and marched smartly on the rain soaked field [We had one heck of a rain about 5  am with strong  winds, etc.].  Our fairly large contingent in the stands cheered our compatriots when they were announced at the reviewing stand and again as they passed by us -- we all wore special t-shirts.  Our group was lead by Professor La, an educator with a Labor Union background who was one of the VGCL founding persons of the TDT University and the head of our Department of Labor Relations and  Trade Union.  Just before our contingent took the field, we were invited to march with the contingent and/or sit with the other faculty in the reviewing stands.  We quickly decided we'd get better photos (plus we were not properly dressed -- our t-shirts!) if we just continued to hang out with the students.  We really appreciate the respect we're shown here as faculty.  It's a balance for us of honoring the role of faculty here in Vietnam and also figuring out how to hang-out with students.

After the parade and formation on the field event was finished we joined Professor La, lecturers Triet and Vinh and toured the booths set up on streets around the dorm area by the various student organizations: labor studies, environment and ecology, Youth Union, health sciences, engineering, and so on.  The groups were recruiting new members as well as raising funds to support their activities, so there were food, crafts and games aplenty to enjoy for a very small contribution.  The display for Labor Studies highlighted the programs for field placement of labor students with unions.  Naturally (we think we're now in the second HCMC season -- rain and hot), it started to rain as we trooped around participating and watching the activities.   One big attraction was a traditional "game" played by having bamboo poles arranged on the ground and then rhythmically clacked on the ground and together.  As they are moved the jumper tries to hop between the poles in the open areas and then move on before getting caught --- sort of like hop scotch or maybe jump rope with moving squares of bamboo that can catch your feet.  You will see a little video of that event which neither Leanna or I chose to take part in -- for once our common sense kicked in.  It was great fun to watch the students (and a few faculty) succeed.. or not!
In the afternoon the various student volunteers representing the departments, performed in an extravaganza in the new Arena.    Remember this is the NEW arena, so this was a first-time production for TDT students.  There were thousands of students in attendance and we sat with our students again --- we like being in their company and it gives them a chance to chat with us in English, or not.  I got some pictures of many of the performances including some video which we will display here or on Facebook.  When the Labor Relations group took the stage we cheered as loud as the loudest group in the house (maybe we were the loudest) and then we charged out of the stands to sit on the stadium floor in solidarity with our performers.  It is really fun to watch some of your Labor Principles and Conflict Resolution students strut their stuff signing and dancing.  There's a lot of performance talent in this student body -- and the students really appreciate and enjoy it all whether on stage or in the audience.
Bottom line...we had a great TDT week and are now exhausted!  Got to get some rest quick before we head to class Monday morning at 6:50 am!

Southern Vietnam Women's Museum --- A must check out Blog post!

MADAME NGUYEN THI BINH in her jungle office.  Madame Binh went on to lead Vietnam's diplomatic works and and negotiate peace to end the American War.

Too often when history is written it is all about him and herstory never gets told. But this isn't the case here in Vietnam and last week-end Leanna and Hollis toured the Southern Vietnam Women's Museum.  The museum is housed in an older building in District 3, near downtown Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon.  The museum tells the story of the women of southern Vietnam (the Vietnamese talk about the southern region, central region and northern regions of their country -- food varies and language accents vary) with different displays highlighting the civil life of southern Vietnam and many cultural groups that have flourished here for 4,000 years including stories about such heroes as the Trung sisters, warriors long ago who were adept at fighting for freedom using elephants.  On each floor of the museum there were gorgeous sculptures and art pieces celebrating southern Vietnam's women.
 Women's prison cell and items about the prison and prisoners.       

The first floor's displays focused on the technology used by women over the course of time to create such traditional fabrics and special clothing as cotton and silk.  The display of spinning machines and incredibly diverse looms with examples of work in progress also showing traditional and historic versions of clothing really helped explain the many different peoples who are Vietnam.  You were left with an understanding of the hard life of labor women lived and the critical role they
Women's personal items.
 played in sustaining family while also contributing significantly to the economic welfare of their family and village.  The top floor exhibits were about modern working class women in all facets of Vietnam's life: diplomats, the People's Assembly, government agencies, education, factories, etc. and was quite inspiring.  The importance of international solidarity was an on-going theme.  The hard work of Vietnam's women continues!   After carefully looking this are over with our two student guides, two women studying in the Labor Relations and Trade Union Department, we moved on to the second of the three floors of exhibits.
Confrontation of Women and soldiers.

Immediately we were ushered into the history of the three long wars that Vietnam has had to endure during the last century and a half starting with the struggle to force the French colonialists out of Vietnam.  The women tended the home fires while the men were fighting --- like happens in most every society --- but went way beyond and became armed fighters, organizers and carried on propaganda and other activities including massive strikes and demonstrations demanding freedom for their peoples.  This experience provided some of the back bone for the resistance that eventually won against the French in 1945 when the Japanese who had occupied much of Indochina were defeated.
NOTE:  If you'd like a Hollis-review of the history of Vietnam from 1945 until late 1970s, feel free to read final paragraphs of this posting.
The remaining floors of the museum contained powerful displays of the stories of individual and groups of Vietnamese women illustrated with the personal belongings that had been donated by women and their families.  The stories which spanned the wars with first the French, then the Japanese occupation during WWII, continued war with France and finally the war with the USA were amazing testimonies to the power of women!  Stories included women fearlessly organizing for workplace and economic justice, directly confronting French and USA-puppet soldiers, hand-producing (with VERY BASIC printing and paper materials) leaflets and posters and then at risk-of-death distributing such literature, growing and harvesting and then transporting rice to soldiers fighting for Vietnam's freedom, hiding freedom fighters...on and on and on.  To read the names and stories, see pieces of clothing or shoes or water cans or eye glasses used by these women was moving.  These women were members of the "long hair army" and many of them sacrificed their lives for freedom.  In addition to these important roles, women also served in the military  and were important in shooting down USA aircraft carrying bombs and Agent Orange/napalm.  Women played an important role in many war battles actually fighting for Vietnam's independence.  Even young students (we saw photos of the women students) mobilized at great personal risk.
Although it was a painful part of the exhibit, we also saw displays of how the French and USA treated women prisoners -- horrible tortures, terrible prisons with little or no food (many women gave birth to children or had very young children with them while in prison).

Women at the Rubber Plantation  The exhibits both showed the horrible suffering and the inspiring strength and power of the women of Vietnam.
At this point of our viewing the museum, it really struck Leanna that these were the stories and lives of women who lived and worked with their families in the southern towns and villages of Vietnam.  What a counter to the myth that somehow Vietnam was a divided people!  Diverse, yes.  Divided, not!
The top floor of the museum was filled with a beautiful large mural as well as the displays of women actively building Vietnam society, culture and art, business, economy, science and technology today.  Again it was great to read and learn about individual women and their contributions.  This is a museum where you feel like you're meeting actual people.
As has been the case with other museum visits shared with our students, we had some great conversations about the lessons each of us was learning, what was emotional, what was inspiring.  The students explained to us that most of the students who grew up in HCMC had already seen the museum, but since our two "guides" were from other provinces much of what we saw at the museum was new for them as well as for us.
One other interesting note about this museum visit...at the ground floor level there was a rather large meeting room.  As we were entering the museum it was obvious that there was decorating going on for some kind of an event.  We asked and the students found out for us that a young couple was having part of their wedding celebration there at the museum.  Might not have been the hippest location in HCMC, but Leanna especially thought it was pretty great if you were going to get married that you also celebrate in some way the southern Vietnam woman!  
Here's Hollis's version/rant of key elements of recent VN history (the American War):
After the September 2, 1945 Declaration of Independence and the  establishment of  the new nation of Vietnam, the French tried to reassert their colonial hold on Vietnam with help from the US who supplied France with money, weapons, bombs and the other implements of war.  This US assistance allowed France to carry on their attempt at re-occupation untill 1954 when they were defeated at Dien Bien Phu by the successful Vietnam peoples war strategy.  As history records, the US decided with the support of the Roman Catholic Church to pick up the gauntlet and invade Vietnam after preventing the 1956 elections that were to re-unify the nation.  The Church had gotten involved because they wanted to maintain their power base under the dominion of western european power.  The Church did not send troops but rather supplied a religious cover for the atrocities of the SVN puppet government --- the Diem regime.
The South Vietnamese people who were organized over the years by the liberation movement [Lead by leaders such as Ton Duc Thang, Pham Van Dong,  Madame Nguyen Binh and Ho Chi Minh to mention only a  few, yes that is Madame Binh a revolutionary leader, organizer and the Provisional Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Liberated southern VN, and Vn representative at the Paris Peace Conference.] were an unbreakable force aligned against the most powerful military force the world has ever known.  These women leaders and woman-next-door-warriors were steel-minded fighters who refused to break under terrible treatment by the SVN government and their US allies who allowed and trained the torturers, troops of the SVN government.  Viet Cong liberation force women were not just the fighters who lived in the tunnels but also the women organizers in the hamlets, towns, and cities who organized and demonstrated against the puppet government and the US aggressor  forces  who killed with Agent Orange, napalm (both chemical weapons), daisy cutter bombs and other weapons of mass destruction --- the weaponry of a military who had no answer to the strategy of people's war and therefore undertook the use of weapons of mass destruction in an effort to gain an upper hand through terrorism and genocide --- a strategy devised by befuddled generals in the Pentagon and inept leaders in the White House directing a subservient officer corps in the field to prosecute a doomed strategy. This leadership and the intelligence agencies of the US destroyed the futures of 4,000,000 Vietnamese and about 55,000 young Americans whose lives were thrown away like trash, not counting the wounded on both sides.
  Women at the Barbed Wire

Part of this campaign was also the imprisonment of women, men, children and senior citizens in concentration camps referred to as "strategic hamlets" --- removing the sea in which the fish of the guerrilla warriors swam.  Of course this strategy didn't have a chance and those of us in the  peace movement knew by 1964 or so because we read and learned from Mao, Lin Piao, Ho Chi Minh, Nkrumah and others including Che, the theory and practice of people's war.  Looking back it is amazing to realize that  Presidents JFK, LBJ and Dirty Dick Nixon didn't do their homework,  declare victory and just get the hell out of Vietnam.  If any of them would have even read the book or watched the movie of  "the mouse that roared" they might have gotten a clue.

Pictures from the Mural.